Description

A legendary diplomat scholar and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche was one of the most prominent Black Americans of the twentieth century The first African American to obtain a political science PhD from Harvard and a celebrated diplomat at the United Nations he was once so famous he
handed out the Best Picture award at the Oscars Yet today Ralph Bunche is largely forgotten

In The Absolutely Indispensable Man Kal Raustiala restores Bunche to his rightful place in history He shows that Bunche was not only a singular figure in midcentury America he was also one of the key architects of the postwar international order Raustiala tells the story of Bunches dramatic life from his
early years in prewar Los Angeles to UCLA Harvard the State Department and the heights of global diplomacy at the United Nations After narrowly avoiding assassination Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize for his groundbreaking mediation of the first ArabIsraeli conflict catapulting him to popular fame A
central player in some of the most dramatic crises of the Cold War he pioneered conflict management and peacekeeping at the UN But as Raustiala argues his most enduring achievement was his work to dismantle European empire Bunche perceptively saw colonialism as the central issue of the 20th century and
decolonization as a project of global racial justice

From marching with Martin Luther King to advising presidents and prime ministers Ralph Bunche shaped our world in lasting ways This definitivebiography gives him his due It also reminds us that postwar decolonization not only fundamentally transformed world politics but also powerfully intersected
with Americas own civil rights struggle